Best Planar Magnetic Headphones Reviewed

Design and build

These HiFiMAN HE1000 V2​​​​Headphones have a nice wood color. The darker wood color around the earcups is a perfect compliment to the headband.

The headband is slightly widened in this version of the headphones than that of the previous V1 version of the same headphones.

These headphones offer a uniform distribution of pressure when worn over your head.

The ear cup depth has also been reduced with the new version of the headphones. This factor contributes to the relatively light weight of the headphones.

The diaphragm is also much closer to your ears, causing more engagement but the soundstage will slightly be less.

But still, the headphones are heavy, and it's no big surprise.

Sound quality

The headphones need a burn-in period of 200 hours preferably with pink noise to sound great.

Only after the burn-in period, you can determine the sound signature of these headphones.

If you've ever used the previous version, i.e., the HiFiMAN HE1000 V1, this is the next version and is better.

Let us compare, this version to the previous version of the headphones. Although the earlier version of the headphones has good layering, the V2 seems to be better regarding layering than that of V1 version.

The treble part is great with these headphones. Due to the good treble these headphones offer, you get a good definition in sound and resolution with these headphones.

The treble part is significant and goes to any extremes. The frequency response is from 8Hz-65KHz.

This is great!

This version of the headphones is slightly forward in the midrange, and it tends to have more emphasis on midrange than that of V1.

The bass is slightly recessed but still present. When it comes to bass, V1 version has the edge over these headphones.

The V2 tends to perform louder at similar gain levels than that of V1 version, although the driver used and sensitivity of 90dB is the same.

It may be due to the less depth of the earcups.

With an impedance of 35 Ohms, these headphones need a good amp or a DAC to perform to its fullest.

Build

These HIFIMAN Edition X headphones are very similar to HiFiMAN 1000 series. But these headphones have a much darker satin hard plastic finish whereas the previous had a wooden finish that's fairly light in color.

The headphones fit fairly well on your head without causing any discomfort. The clamp is just right and won't cause any discomfort.

They are designed just great. The headband and pads are made very lightweight so as to contribute to the overall comfort of the headphones.

Sound quality

When you compare these headphones to that of HE-400S, the bass is very present on these headphones.

The bass is very refined and tight and there's a slight emphasis on bass when compared to other planar magnetic headphones.

When you hear to some of the bass prominent tracks, you can easily notice that these headphones pronounce the great detail and power in the mid-bass range.

When you compare these headphones with the HD 800, these headphones deliver a great warm mids.

The sound stage is excellent and manages to bring subtle artifacts to life.

The details offered by these headphones in the treble range without much brightness are the great thing about HiFiMAN Edition X headphones.

At very high frequencies there may be a lack of some engagement, but many people managed to overcome this by using different cables.

The headphones have a low impedance of 25 ohms and have a low 103 dB sensitivity.

This means these headphones can be driven decently by your iPhone or any portable device to a good volume.

Contrary to most of the other planar magnetic headphones, these HIFIMAN Edition X headphones should not be used with a powerful amp, due to the low impedance.

Although these can fit in most of the decent amps but do keep the high volume in check due to low sensitivity.

Build quality

The build quality of the headphones is great and seems to withstand a good amount of physical abuse.

The headphones come with two cables, one is a short 3.5 mm cable and the other is a long cable to be used with a headphone amp.

These OPPO PM-3 headphones come with synthetic ear pads that are quite comfortable to wear during long sessions.

They are also quite compact enough to fit into your carrying case.

Sound quality

The bass with these headphones is great and penetrating. As the noise isolation is excellent, I think there's no need of bass boost with these headphones.

But these headphones are definitely not bass headphones. The bass sound balanced, and not emphasized.

In spite of being a closed back headphones, the soundstage is quite wide. The treble is also great and performs well without any distortion, due to the low-distortion property of planar magnetic drivers.

Build

Before reading my review on Audeze Sine, the first thing you need to note is that these are on ear headphones. These headphones rest on your ears not engulf them.

Once you get your hands on these headphones, the first thing you notice is the hard aluminum frame and leather finish these headphones come with.

The build quality is excellent than any other planar magnetic headphones in this range.

The only downside when it comes to the build is that the ear cups won't swivel. This makes the headphones to be quite hard to carry around.

Added to that, the tough build of the headphones also adds to the weight of the headphones.

The comfort offered by the leather cushions is great.

The clamping pressure offered by the headband is quite high, causing mild discomfort when you wear these headphones for a longer period of time. This issue will be only there, in case if you have large heads.

The two cables that these Audeze Sine headphones come with are quite sturdy, thick and flat. They are highly durable.

Sound quality

Although being an on-ear headphone, the size of the ear cups is triple the size of other conventional on-ear headphones you find in the market.

The larger size of the ear cups may have contributed to the sound quality and bass these headphones offer.

As these are powered by planar magnetic technology, the headphones are quite quick to respond and prevent the lows from being muddying up the other vocals and trebles.

It's great to see how these headphones perform well in the entire frequency chart without any emphasis in particular range.

The bass is strong and hard-hitting, the mids and vocals are detailed, the trebles deliver great accuracy without being harsh.

There's a perfect balance between the sounds of various frequencies. The layering and soundstage are excellent.

You can easily make out the sounds of different instruments accurately in the acoustic space.